Recap from the 81st Texas Legislature.

Recap from the 81st Texas Legislature

I am proud to be a part of such a pro-active state REALTOR association with an incredible hand in governmental and political affairs.  The Texas Association of REALTORS has a long-standing commitment to their members and the private property owners of Texas to protect their rights.  TAR once again had a successful lobbying season in the lastest Texas Legislature.  Below is a recap of the progress made by the TAR team on important REALTOR and private property rights issues.

The Texas Association of REALTORS® put forth an ambitious agenda for this session. For the most part, the association succeeded in passing its legislative programs while defeating bills that would negatively affect private-property owners and Texas REALTORS®.

Here's some of the legislation in which the Texas Association of REALTORS® played an integral role either passing or defeating. A more thorough overview will be unveiled at the Texas REALTOR® Convention and Trade Expo in Dallas next month. With the exception of the constitutional amendments (indicated by either HJR or SJR), all of these bills were either signed by the governor or became effective without his signature. The constitutional amendments will be decided by Texas voters on November 3.

* Appraisal reform: All association-backed appraisal reforms passed. HB 8 ensures increased oversight of appraisal districts. HB 3613 allows for a residential homestead to be appraised as a residence, not on the basis of the "highest and best use" appraisal standard. SB 771, among other things, mandates updated appraisal methods, gives consumers alternatives to costly lawsuits when appealing a ruling by an appraisal review board, and adds CPAs to the list of people qualified to act as arbitrators. HJR 36 proposes a constitutional amendment to make appraisal practices more uniform.

* Business vehicle exemptions: HB 2814 passed that allows people who use their automobiles for professional and personal purposes to file only once a property-tax exemption form for their vehicles. Previously, this form had to be filed annually.

* Eminent domain: The House and Senate passed HJR 14 that proposes a constitutional amendment limiting the public taking of private property. Unfortunately, the resolution did not include association-supported language allowing a property owner to repurchase his property for what the government paid for it if the property is not used for its public purpose within 10 years.

* Homeowners-association reform: The association supported unsuccessful legislation, HB 1976, designed to give homeowners more transparency and clarity with regard to HOA policies and procedures. Lawmakers in the House and Senate worked diligently throughout the session to achieve such reforms that would benefit consumers; however, some home developers, whose amendments were stripped from the bill, worked to kill the HOA-reform proposal.

* Mandatory sales-price disclosure: The Texas Association of REALTORS® stopped all proposals (HB 133, SB 444, and HB 2257) calling for mandatory sales-price disclosure.

* Margins tax: HB 4765 amends the Tax Code to increase from $300,000 to $1 million the total revenue threshold for a taxable entity, adjusted for inflation or deflation, equal to or below which the entity is neither required to pay nor considered to owe any franchise tax for a particular period. That change expires December 31, 2011, and on January 1, 2012, the total revenue threshold becomes $600,000 and related provisions of the bill make a conforming change to the law on franchise tax discounts. The bill takes effect January 1, 2010, except for those two provisions resetting the threshold at $600,000 and revising the discounts, which each take effect January 1, 2012.

* Mortgage finance: Association-supported legislation passed that calls for stronger regulation of the banking industry. HB 10 strengthens the regulation of mortgage bankers and brokers by requiring them to adhere to stiffer federal guidelines of operation.

* Property-tax appraisal caps: The association helped stop numerous proposals designed to reduce property-tax appraisal caps from their current level of 10%. Research shows that such efforts would harm the economy and would distort the housing market by penalizing new homebuyers who don't benefit from the cap.

* Texas Real Estate Commission/Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University: SB 862, which was supported by the association, updates and modernizes the Real Estate License Act as well as allows the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University to continue to operate through a stable funding mechanism: $50 of the $200 annual professional fee will be redirected to the Real Estate Center beginning Sept. 1, 2011. The bill also increases the additional fee levied on all real estate salespeople to $20 per year, matching the fee paid by brokers.

* Real estate transfer taxes: The association assisted in successful efforts to prevent passage of legislation calling for taxes on real estate transactions.

* County rulemaking authority: The association successfully stopped all efforts to unilaterally expand county rulemaking authority.

* Windstorm insurance: HB 4409 reshaped Texas windstorm insurance to provide more stability and relief for homeowners and businesses in the Gulf Coast region. Although HB 4409 makes strides toward a solution, more work needs to be done.

Thank you to the governmental and political affairs staff, volunteers and committee members for their many long hours of work this session on the above issues.